Superstar Rajinikanth on Friday appealed to Muslim groups to give up their demand for banning Kamal Haasan’s multilingual thriller Viswaroopam even as the screening of the film was stopped midway in Hyderabad.

In a statement issued in Chennai, Rajinikanth said he was saddened by
the developments, especially since his friend of 40 years could never “hurt” anyone.

“I am upset about the hardship Kamal underwent to invest R100 crore in the film,” Rajinikanth said and hoped the problem would be resolved at the earliest.

In Hyderabad, the morning shows stopped midway after some organisations complained that the movie was hurtful to the community’s religious sentiments.

The police directed all the theatre owners in Hyderabad to stop screening the film after state home minister Sabita Indra Reddy gave an order.

However, by evening the police appeared to have relaxed the order and more than 40 halls resumed the show. However, 14 theatres located in Muslim-majority, old-city areas refrained from doing so.

In Karnataka, the film could not be released. The film’s distributor in Karnataka, HD Gangaraju, said it was to be released in around 37 halls including 12 in Bangalore. “After the controversy generated, I asked all the theatres to stop it for the time being,” he said.

“I am in touch with the people concerned on the issue. If the matter is settled, I will release the film on Sunday.”